Democracy around the world is declining. This is according to the Economist Intelligence Unit (EIU). It has just released its latest Democracy Index which looks at the state of democracy around the world in 2020.
According to the EIU the globe’s democracy score has dropped to 5.37, the lowest since the Index began in 2006. This score is out of ten and a higher score indicates higher levels of democracy, while a lower score the converse. This is partly due to severe restrictions on civil liberties which were imposed in many countries around the world to combat the Covid-19 pandemic.
The Index groups countries into four categories – full democracies, flawed democracies, hybrid regimes, and authoritarian states, using a number of measures to determine how to categorise each country.
The five countries ranked at the top of the Index (which tracks democracy in nearly 170 countries) were Norway, Iceland, Sweden, New Zealand, and Canada. The EIU flagged Taiwan as a stand-out performer in a year in which there was democratic backsliding in much of the world. That country leapt to 11th on the index, up from 31st. The EIU noted that: ‘Taiwan went to the polls in January 2020, and the national elections demonstrated the resilience of its democracy at a time when electoral processes, parliamentary oversight and civil liberties have been backsliding globally. There was a strong voter turnout, including among the younger generation, to elect the president and members of the Legislative Yuan.’
The lowest ranked countries in the Index are Chad, Syria, Central African Republic, Democratic Republic of Congo, with North Korea being considered the least democratic country on Earth.
South Africa is ranked as a ‘flawed democracy’ and comes in at 45th on the Index, just behind the island nation of Timor-Leste. In Sub-Saharan Africa we come in fourth, behind Mauritius, Cape Verde, and Botswana. Namibia rounds out the top five in the region.
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